She didn't have friends, and to top it off, students loved to bully her. Pennelopie was so weak and bully able. As a result, Pennelopie was very miserable indeed.
One day, she brought a little red crystal with her to school. She kept on turning it and polishing it with a velvet scarf. By lunchtime, all the students were mesmerised. They approached her and asked her about it. But Pennelopie didn't say anything. Her eyes just glinted mysteriously.
She picked up her lunch tray and threw away her rubbish. Then she seemed to vanish, and all the students were amazed.
When the students went to the study hall, Pennelopie was there, sitting quietly and playing with her red crystal as if nothing had happened.
"What is that, Pennelopie?!" a mean girl named Raymonde asked. "Yes! Yes!" the other students said. Pennelopie just looked down at her desk. She did not say anything. Her eyes just flickered as though there was a flame in each of them.
The students became uneasy. They went to their tables and waited uncertainly. Then they heard a bewitching voice. "Raymonde." the voice said. The students noted that her voice was smooth and rich, but treacherous.
Raymonde turned her head, her heart starting to beat quickly.
"I'll show it to you alone behind The Building." Pennelopie said. The students gasped. The Building was a scary place. It was an old apartment building that had not been used for 32 years. It was old and crumbling. The children believed it to be haunted.
"B-b-b-but--" Raymonde protested. She didn't even dare to go to The Building with her best friend, let alone Pennelopie!
"Can I bring Maisie?" Raymonde asked, terrified. Pennelopie's eyes turned into slits. "I said, alone." she said, her voice becoming lower and deeper, with every syllable she uttered.
The class of students were all sweating and shaking all over. They were horrified. Raymonde gulped. "Must I go?" she asked. Pennelopie looked up, her green eyes becoming a fiery yellow. They bored into Raymonde's skin. "You have no choice." Pennelopie declared.
Raymonde yelped. "Yes, I'll go." The students were growing more fearful by the nanosecond.
Then, Pennelopie's eyes turned back to green and she looked normal again. She turned to her work and then no one said another word.
***
Raymonde crept to The Building as carefully as possible. She looked around, hoping that a ghost wouldn't come and grab her. She pulled her jacket hood on and looked about carefully. Then she spotted someone lurking about. It had messy hair that looked burnt, and a black cape.It looked at her. Raymonde screamed. Then she realised that it was Pennelopie.
"Why, hello, Raymonde." Raymonde's heart beat quickly. It was so dark now, and Pennelopie's eyes were gleaming yellow. "What's going on?" Raymonde asked, afraid.
Pennelopie smiled malevolently. "All these years, you and the other students have bullied me. Did I wrong you? Have I ever called you a cruel name? Did I ever push you even the slightest bit?"
Raymonde shook her head. She didn't like where this was going. Pennelopie came nearer. "I have not." she said, answering her own question.
"I was helpless. I was meek. I never fought back!" Pennelopie's voice grew louder. "You laughed at me. You abused me! This was how you treated me. You ruined my life! You never stopped to think about how I felt!"
Raymonde started to cry. "I'm sorry! I'll never do it again! Let me go home!" She tried to run away, but Pennelopie stopped her. She dragged her to a post and tied her there. "This is my payback!!!!!" Pennelopie screamed.
She lit a match and started to burn the end of the rope that tied Raymonde there. Then Pennelopie disappeared around the corner, laughing dementedly. Raymonde screamed.
"HELP!! Help!!!! Oh someone!!" Raymonde screamed and flailed her arms. "HELP!" Then, at that moment, a boy came rushing in. His eyes widened and he acted quickly. He grabbed a nearby bucket and filled it with water from a tap in the corner. The boy splashed Raymonde and repeated the process until the fire was gone.
The boy untied the ropes and helped Raymonde to a stone on the ground. She sat on it and the boy examined her arms. She was quite severely burned and the ropes had burned her too. Then the boy introduced himself as Samm.
"Are you alright now?" Samm asked, after applying some salve from his bag onto her arms. "Yes." Raymonde sobbed. "I-I-I want to go home."
Samm nodded. "I understand." He carried Raymonde up in his arms and they left the alley. Samm carried Raymonde home. Then he put her down at her doorstep.
They stared at each other for awhile. Then Samm said, "It was a good thing the fire didn't burn your face." He kissed Raymonde very gently and then he walked away, saying goodbye.
***
At school the next day, everyone talked about Raymonde's predicament. They were amazed at Pennelopie's act. They looked around for her but not surprisingly, she did not come to school.The headmaster tried to call Pennelopie's aunt and ask her for Pennelopie's whereabouts. But the operator explained that there was no such number. The head master was puzzled. He went calling to their house after school and he got a shock.
The house was empty and rundown. And lying on the doorstep was Pennelopie, dead.
There was a note attached to her shirt. The headmaster read it. It said,
"Goodbye."
*Epilogue*
* Pennelopie's aunt was nowhere to be found. Pennelopie was buried in a cemetry for unknown peoples and people with no family. Nobody ever figured out the mystery.
* Raymonde was traumatised, and she tried to forget the scene, but she never did. Also, she had fallen in love with Samm when he kissed her that night, but she never saw him again. When Raymonde asked about for Samm, no one could say that they had known him or seen him. He had come out of nowhere and disappeared to nowhere, it seemed. In the end, Raymonde died, a sad soul.
* Slowly, the people of this town went away and never came back. But when a descendant of one of the townsfolk came to look for it, it was gone.
